The icy conditions will bring more travel chaos after the Met Office admitted it got its Wednesday snow forecast for the south-east wrong.

An “unexpected” fall of just two inches caused mayhem, with 70 schools having to close in Essex alone.

Struggle

Police reported 78 road accidents in the county between 6am and 11.30am, with one serious injury and 12 minor injuries.

And there were 70 reports of traffic disruption caused by snow and ice.

Essex County Council spokeswoman Fay Doherty said: “We weren’t expecting snow and it was a big shock to all of us.”

Met Office forecaster Sarah Holland said: “We did forecast the risk of snow but snow affected a wider area than expected as a more intense area of showers pushed south. Our warnings were updated to help minimise the impacts.”

The mercury plunged early yesterday to –5.2C at Benson, Oxon, and –6.9C at Dalwhinnie, Inverness-shire.

Meanwhile, British Weather Services forecast –12C lows in Scotland and –8C in England this morning.

The Met Office issued an “amber” weather warning for Scotland, saying: “Lying snow and ice will struggle to melt and bring treacherous conditions.

“The public should be prepared for the risk of significant travel disruption, especially in the M8 corridor east of Glasgow, Perthshire and much of inland eastern Scotland.”